Open Letter Against Punitive Deductions for UCU Industrial Action

We are calling upon our international networks to release statements of support for UCU members and highlight/criticise the punitive measures adopted by universities and their representative organisation UCEA (Universities and Colleges Employers Association).

As many colleagues will be aware, the University and College Union (UCU) members have been taking industrial action for several years to address:

rapidly deteriorating working conditions, systemic workplace inequalities and long-term real-terms pay cuts faced by university staff;
deeply unjust and financially indefensible cuts made to our collective pension fund.

In the 2022-2023 academic year, 70,000 university staff at over 145 institutions won two consecutive national ballots and took strike action. This is unprecedented and a considerable victory in and of itself given the excessively restrictive trade union laws that govern industrial relations in the UK. Collective action has brought us closer to a resolution in the pensions dispute, but it has, unfortunately, not produced sufficient movement in the pay and working conditions dispute.

The union members are now engaged in a Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB) to compel employers back to the negotiation table. While marking and assessment-related duties constitute a small percentage of our workloads, many universities have responded to this legal industrial tactic by threatening to dock 100% of our pay. These punitive pay deductions will have a significant impact on all participating UCU members, but they will impact most harshly on our early-career and precarious colleagues—disproportionately women and people of colour—who are already struggling with low pay and job insecurity.

We are therefore calling upon our international networks to release statements of support for UCU members and highlight/criticise the punitive measures adopted by universities and their representative organisation UCEA (Universities and Colleges Employers Association).

What can you do to support UCU members?

Sign our open letter: If you would like to add your name to our brief open letter you can do so by filling this form.
Send us your own solidarity message: You can also send us a personalised note to express your support. With your consent, we can add your message to the open letter and circulate it on social media. Please also consider expressing your support via your own social media accounts.
Bring solidarity motions to your union branch: If you are part of a workplace union at your own institution, please consider bringing a solidarity motion to your next union branch meeting. A solidarity statement released publicly by your union branch would be much appreciated.
Contact University Vice-Chancellors: Vice-Chancellors are in a key position to influence the bargaining position of UCEA. We would greatly appreciate it if you could contact them and express your support for UCU members. You can use the union’s email template to contact VCs.
Contact your own networks: Feel free to share this page and the open letter with your own networks.

Click here to access our open letter against punitive deductions for UCU industrial action.

Signatories

Last update: 23 May 2023

Name	Institution
Dr Amira Abdelhamid	University of Portsmouth
Dr Joscha Abels	University of Tübingen
Professor Fiona B. Adamson	SOAS University of London
Dr Ilias Alami	Uppsala University
Dr Greg Albo	York University
Dr Francesco Amoruso	Tampere University
Professor Felix Anderl	University of Marburg
Dr Diego Andreucci	University of Barcelona
Dr Alexander Anievas	University of Connecticut
Dr Fulya Apaydın	Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals
Dr Roberto Aringhieri	University of Turin
Dr David Attewell	University of Zurich
Dr Uğur Aytaç	Utrecht University
Professor Mona Baker	University of Oslo
Professor Banu Bargu	University of California, Santa Cruz
Dr Tom Barnes	Australian Catholic University
Dr Núria Araüna Baró	University Rovira i Virgili
Dr Valeria Bello	Ramón Llull University
Dr Paul Beaumont	Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Professor Jacqueline Best	University of Ottawa
Dr Ali Bhagat	Saint Mary’s University
Dr Adi Saleem Bharat	University of Michigan
Dr Arda Bilgen	LSE
Professor Renate Bridenthal	City University of New York
Dr Alexi Brooks	University of Wisconsin-Stout
Dr Gareth Bryant	University of Sydney
Dr Richard Budd	Lancaster University
Olivia Butler	Uppsala University
Dr William Callison	Uppsala University
Lucy Carolan	Newcastle University
Dr Claudio Cattaneo	Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Dr Jana Cattien	University of Amsterdam
Dr Carolina Cepeda-Másmela	Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá
Professor Iain Chambers	Università di Napoli “L’Orientale”
Dr Hannah Chapman	University of Oklahoma
Dr Liberty Chee	Ca Foscari University of Venice
Dr Ramón I. Centeno	Universidad de Sonora
Dr Tom Chodor	Monash University
Professor Mònica Clua Losada
Professor Blanche Wiesen Cook	John Jay College & the Graduate Center, City University of New York
Ewan Coopey	Macquarie University
Dr Maria Micaela Coppola	University of Trento
Elizabeth Cox	York St John University
Dr Adriano Cozzolino	Università della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”
Dr Guy Crawford	Queen’s University
Dr M. Kerem Çoban	Kadir Has University
Dr Antonia Lucia Dawes	King’s College London
Carlo De Gaetano	Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
Audrey Deveault	Goldsmiths, University of London
Dr Rachele Dini	University of Roehampton
Andrew Dockett	Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
Professor John Dryzek	University of Canberra
Professor Rosaleen Duffy	University of Sheffield
Dr Chandni Dwarkasing	SOAS University of London
Dr Daniel Edmondson	York St John University
Professor Steve Ellner	Universidad de Oriente
Dr Mariano Féliz	Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Dr Jana Fey	University of Sussex
Dr Desiree Fields	University of California, Berkeley
Dr Graham Finlay	University College Dublin
Dr Adam Fishwick	University of Akureyri
Professor Barbora Foley	Rutgers University-Newark
Dr Philippe M. Frowd	University of Ottawa
Dr Jasmine Gani	University of St Andrews
Cynthia Gao	New York University
Professor Jorge García-Arias	University of Leon
Dr Gustavo García-López	University of Coimbra
Dr Giulia Giorgi	University of Milan
Tony Gregory	UWE Bristol
Dr Marco Guidi	University of Glasgow
Dr Caroline D. Hardin	Western Washington University
Dr Ronald Hartz	Universität Duisburg-Essen
Dr Christian Henderson	Leiden University
Dr Richard Helliwell	RURALIS - Institute for Rural and Regional Research
Professor Tracey Hill	Bath Spa University
Dr Daniel Hirschman	Cornell University
Dr Kelley Holley	Rochester Institute of Technology
Dr Laura Horn	Roskilde University
Dr Aida A. Hozić	University of Florida
Professor Suzan Ilcan	University of Waterloo
Dr Beste İşleyen	University of Amsterdam
Dr Ana Ivasiuc	Maynooth University
Dr Alke Jenss	Arnold Bergstraesser Institute
Dr Ari Jerrems	University of Western Australia
Eun A Jo	Cornell University
Dr Melissa Johnston	University of Queensland
Dr Bonn Juego	University of Jyväskylä
Dr Laura Jung	University of Graz
Dr Isaac Kamola	Trinity College
Dr Sarrah Kassem	University of Tübingen
Professor Patricia Keeton	Ramapo College
Dr Christopher Kirkland	York St John University
Dr Višnja Kisić	Forest University
Elisabeth Koch	University of California, Los Angeles
Professor Insa Koch	University of St Gallen
Dr Kai Koddenbrock	University of Bayreuth
Dr Panagiota Kotsila	Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Professor David Laibman	Brooklyn College & the Graduate Center, City University of New York
Shreeta Lakhani	SOAS University of London
Professor Erick D. Langer	Georgetown University
Dr Ganaele Langlois	York University
Dr David Lawson	University of Bristol
Dr Stephan Liebscher	Free University Berlin
Dr Imogen Liu	Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Dr Matthias Leese	ETH Zürich
Professor Jens Lerche	SOAS University of London
Professor Sonia Lucarelli	University of Bologna
Dr Vincenzo Maccarrone	Scuola Normale Superiore
Professor Megan MacKenzie	Simon Fraser University
Dr Maria Mälksoo	University of Copenhagen
Rachael Malott	Carleton University
Dr Nuno Marques	KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Dr Carl G. Martin	Norwich University
Dr Claire M. Massey	University of Rostock
Dr Gillian Mathys	Ghent University
Professor Greggor Mattson	Oberlin College and Conservatory
Dr Dóra Mérai	Central European University
Professor Sandro Mezzadra	University of Bologna
Dr Laura Mills	University of St Andrews
Dr Alison Milner	Aalborg University
Dr Paul C. Mishler	Indiana University
Dr Stephen Montgomery	University of Bristol
Professor Adam David Morton	University of Sydney
Dr Sara C. Motta	University of Newcastle
Professor Samuel Moyn	Yale University
Dr Can E. Mutlu	Acadia University
Professor Deborah Mutnick	Long Island University
Professor Daniel Mügge	University of Amsterdam
Suraj Nair	SOAS University of London
Professor Andreas Nölke	Goethe University Frankfurt
Paul O’Donovan	University College Cork
Dr Daragh O’Reilly	University of Sheffield
Professor Gerardo Otero	Simon Fraser University
Dr Umut Özsu	Carleton University
Dr Polly Pallister-Wilkins	University of Amsterdam
Dr Leo Parascondola	William Paterson University
Dr Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra	University of California, San Diego
Professor Heikki Patomäki	University of Helsinki
Professor Jamie Peck	University of British Columbia
Dr Oscar Perea-Rodriguez	University of San Francisco
Professor Nina Perkowski	University of Hamburg
Dr Dieter Plehwe	Berlin Social Science Center
Dr Aleksandra Piletić	University of Amsterdam
Professor Stefano Ponte	Copenhagen Business School
Professor Richard S. Pressman	Saint Mary’s University
Professor Sujatha Raman	Australian National University
Dr Claire Ravenscroft	International Christian University
Professor Jacob Remes	New York University
Dr Raquel Ribeiro	Universidade Nova de Lisboa NOVA/FCSH
Professor Lisa Richey	Copenhagen Business School
Daniel Rosenblum	Uppsala University
Dr David Rossati	Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Dr Alina Sajed	McMaster University
Rohit Sarma	Central European University
Dr Emilio Sauri	University of Massachusetts Boston
Dr Gabi Schlag	University of Tübingen
Dr Moritz Schmoll	Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique
Dr Benjamin Schuetze	Arnold Bergstraesser Institut
Dr Rachel Schwartz	University of Oklahoma
Dr Somdeep Sen	Roskilde University
Professor Sima Shakhsari	University of Minnesota
Professor Nandita Sharma	University of Hawaii at Mānoa
Dr Hariati Sinaga	University of Indonesia
Dr Subir Sinha	SOAS University of London
Professor Quinn Slobodian	Wellesley College
Zinaïda Sluijs	Uppsala University
Professor James Smethurst	University of Massachusetts Amherst
Professor Susanne Soederberg	Queen’s University
Professor Vicki Squire	University of Warwick
Dr Meg Stalcup	University of Ottawa
Professor Margaret Stevens	Essex County College
Dr Maurice Stierl	University of Osnabrück
Dr Maria Dyveke Styve	European University Institute
Professor Darko Suvin	McGill University
Dr Hanna Szemző	Metropolitan Research Institute
Dilruba Taş	University of Florida
Dr Lana Tatour	University of New South Wales
Dr Diana Teggi	The Open University
Dr Chon Tejedor	University of Valencia
Dr Vineet Thakur	Leiden University
Dr Charlie Thame	Thammasat University
Dr Sergio Tirado-Herrero	Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Professor Tiziana Terranova	Università di Napoli “L’Orientale”
Professor Cihan Tuğal	University of California, Berkeley
Dr Ethemcan Turhan	University of Groningen
Dr Mirjam Twigt	Leiden University
Dr Ahmad Rizky M. Umar	University of Queensland
Dr Kayhan Valadbaygi	Leiden University
Professor Michel Vandenbroeck	Ghent University
Dr Peter Verovšek	University of Groningen
Dr Feliciano Castaño Villar	University of Jaén
Nikolaos Vrantsis	Uppsala University
Professor Alan Wald	University of Michigan
Dave Watton	University of Birmingham
Dr Carola Westermeier	Giessen University
Dr Tom Western	University College London
Dr Emily Kidd White	Osgoode Hall Law School
Dr Angela Wigger	Radboud University
Dr Zhun Xu	John Jay College & the Graduate Center, City University of New York
Dr Deniz Yonucu	Newcastle University